Washing machine agitator



April 1950 G. P. CASTNER WASHING MACHINE AGITATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledSept. 27, 1946 3mm GEORGE R bAST/VER April 4, 1950 c s 2,502,702

WASHING MACHINE AGITATOR Filed Sept. 27, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIGS EGEORGE R CASTNER Patented Apr. 4, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEWASHING MACHINE AGITATOR George P. Castner, Webster City, Iowa, asslgnorto Solar Corporation, Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of DelawareApplication September 27, 1946, Serial No. 699,624 1 Claim. (Cl. 68-134)This invention relates to improvements in agitators for washingmachines.

The primary object '1 the invention is to provide an agitator unit ormechanism, particularly for domestic, clothes washing machines, by meansof which an increased and more effective washing action is obtainableupon the clothes as contrasted to the more usual agitators, and thewashing operation is in general greatly facilitated. Another object isto provide an agitator so shaped and constructed that the clothes at andnear the level of the washing liquid are rubbed and flagged about toincrease the washing action, and are guided and urged down readily intothe undertow formed by the agitator vanes operating below the surface.Still another object is to provide an agitator so shaped and arrangedthat it will largely overcome the water-wings effect noted particularlyin automatic washing machines, caused by air becoming trapped in the wetcloth materials. Unless these water-wings or bubbles are quicklydissipated the clothes become tangled and the operation is materiallyinterfered with, and it is found that the agitator of my inventionadvantageously fulfills this need. Still a further object is to providean agitator which permits the wash and rinse water to be introduced atthe center and led to a point below the normal clothes and water levelbefore dispersal preventing splashing and assuring maximum evenness ofthe water distribution to the clothes.

These and other important objects and advantages of my invention will bemade apparent in the course of the following specification, referencebeing had therein to the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a vertical irregular cross sectional view through the clothesreceptacle or tub of an automatic washing machine, and showin therein anagitator assembly according to my invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the assembly of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an elevational view, partially broken away and in section, ofthe top unit or portion of the agitator, alone.

For purposes of illustration I have shown my improved agitator unit inconnection with the tub or clothes receptacle of the automatic washingmachine disclosed in detail in the copending application of Arthur D.Lund and myself, filed August 14, 1946, Serial No. 690,532. Beingconcerned here with improvements in the agitator mechanism or unit only,I do not, of course, limit myself as to details of the tub and otheroperating parts of the machine as a whole.

Referring now more particularly and by reference characters to thedrawing A designates generally the agitator and B the tub or clothesreceptacle centrally within which the agitator is oscillatably mounted.The receptacle B comprises an axial sleeve 5 terminating at its lowerend in a conical portion 6 which is secured by bolts 1 atop a tubular,rotatable spindle 8 forming a central part of the machine. The annular,but slightly downwardly tapering, receptacle wall 9 has a central, lowerflange II! which is secured in water-tight relation to the outer edge ofthe conical part 6. The arrangement is such that the entire receptacle Bmay be spun, for centrifugally extracting the water from the clothes, byrotation of the spindle 8, and the water is allowed to escape throughopenings II in the wall 9 formed below a balancing ring I 2 securedaround the upper end of the receptacle, while the clothes are heldagainst escapingby the inturned fiangeof said ring, clearly appearing inFig. 1.

Rotatably mounted up through the spindle 8 is an agitator drive shaft l3and mounted thereon is the agitator A. The shaft [3 is oscillated, bymeans not here shown, during the washing operation in the usual manner.here shown comprises separate, and separable, upper and lower parts Aand A" but it is to be understood that it may be made in one piece it sodesired.

The lower part A of the agitator comprises an upright, upwardly taperingtubular stem or center post [4 flared out at its bottom to form a skirtI5 and having integral, radial and upright vanes or blades Hi. The shapeis thus such that the agitator will operate nicely over the conical part6 of the receptacle B. The upper end of the stem H has a hub I! thecenter of which is upwardly tapered and non-circular to non-rotatablyseat over a similarly and. complementarily shaped plug I8 secured by apin l9 upon the upper end of the shaft l3. A flangedbushing 20 is placedbetween the plug 18 andthe upper end of the spindle 8 and serves as abearing between the shaft and the spindle. The agitator is held down toplace by a cap 2| having a threaded shank screwed into the upper end ofthe shaft I3, and the agitator may, of course, be removed by merelyunscrewing this cap.

It may here be noted that in the conventional agitator the lower part Ajust described comprises the entire agitator unit with the exceptionthat the vanes it, instead of terminating 56 well below the upper end ofthe stem ll in hori- The agitator as zontal, square cut upper ends 22 asthey do here (Fig. I), extend further up the stem but taper or decreasein width so that the upper end of the agitator becomes quite small indiameter and tapers upwardly, as is well known. This if found. however,to be a disadvantage. as will presently appear, and which is completelyovercome by the upper end formation of the agitator next to bedescribed.

The upper part A", forming the upper end formation just referred to,comprises a hollow cap member or body portion member 23 which is adaptedto loosely fit downwardly over the upper end of the stem l4 and is heldthereon, by an in wardly turned rim 24 which fits an annular groove 25formed for its accommodation in the upper edge of the hub i1 and is heldin said groove by the aforesaid cap 2|. The lower edge of the cap 23further has downwardly opening vertical notches 26 adapted to seat overand straddle the upper ends 22 of the vanes l6 and the cap is thussupported to oscillate as a unit with the lower part A of the agitatoras will be readily apparent.

The cap 23 is also provided with radial agitating or rubbing vanes orribs 21, equal in number to and registering with the aforesaid vanes l6,and the width of these vanes 21 is such that the outer edges of thevanes i62l stand flush with each other. The vanes 21. of course. willterminate at lower ends at the level of the upper ends of the notches26. Also provided on the cap member, intermediate the vanes 21, aresimilar radial vanes or ribs 2! but which extend down to the lower endof the cap and so will engage the clothes between the vanes Hi.

When positioned atop the lower part of the agitator this upper part A"forms a cap-like enclosure or head for the small, tapering upper end ofthe stem I4 and the cap 23, as will be' readily evident, iscomparatively large in diameter. Furthermore the outer peripheralsurface 28 of the cap member, instead of tapering upwardly as does theupper part of the usual agitator, tapers in the opposite direction sothat it grows larger toward it upper end. This has an important effect.In the washing operation the clothes and liquid are given a toroidalcirculatory movement, as indicated by the arrows to the left in Fig. 1,such that at and near the water level, indicated at 29, the clothes moveinwardly and then are drawn downwardly by the undertow formed near thecenter of the machine by the usual action of the vanes Hi. In the usualagitator with upwardly tapering upper end the clothes tend to jam aroundthe agitator due to the fact that the included angle between theagitator stem and water line 29 is necessarily acute. or less than aright angle. On the other hand, the included angle between theperipheral surface 28 of my agitator cap or head portion and the waterline 29 is greater than a right angle, as indicated at Y in Fig. 1, andthe clothes are guided nicely inward and downward into the undertowwithout any tendency to clog at this point in their travel. Theinwardly, downwardly sloping surface 28 further extends well below thewater line and below the tops of the vanes IE to facilitate this action.

In the type of washing machine here shown the water or cleansing andrinsing liquid is admitted to the receptacle A by a pipe 30 leading froma suitable supply (not shown) inwardly above the receptacle andterminating in a spray head 3| which it supports immediately over thecenter of the agitator. The spray head 3| has a circular row of openingsin its underside through which the liquid may fall in sprays as clearlyshown, and the top 32 of the agitator cap 23 has openings 33 downwardlythrough which the liquid may pass into the interior of the agitator. Theinner diameter of the cap member is such that a substantial annularspace 34 is formed and the liquid passes down into this space from whichit then flows outward into the clothes through slots or other suitableopenings 35 formed through the wall of the cap be tween the vanes21-21', as well as from the open lower end of the cap as in theco-pending application previously identified.

In the operation of the agitator the vanes 21 and 21" have a pronouncedrubbing effect on the clothes to substantially augment the washingoperation as a whole and in addition this results in what may be calleda fiagging" of the clothes at and near the surface. The latter is ofadvantage too in that it levels out the load and keeps the washing levelquite smooth and even, and permits the escape openings II to be locateda very short distance above the water level to facilitate extraction. Infact, there is provided a three-way washing action by the flagging ofthe clothes, the rubbing of the vanes 21-27 as the clothes work downwardabout the agitator and, of course, the normal washing action of thevanes I6.

The large diameter of the upper cap or head part of the agitator also isfound to aid materially in overcoming the water-wings effect so commonlynoted in automatic washers, particularly when the rinse water isintroduced. Closely woven fabric materials. such as sheets, andparticularly when wet, have a tendency to trap air and the material thenstands up above the water surface so that these bubble-like formationshold the clothes at the top of the water while others are turning belowand twisting and tangling inevitably results. Apparently due to the highperipheral velocity of the large upper end 01' my agitator, and thedifference in the velocities of the outer edges of the ribs 21-21- andthe cap surface 28 the agitator is found to have a pronounced tendencyto push and pull these bubblelike portions of the clothes about fromdifferent angles and quickly allow the trapped air to escape, and theclothes to be digested into the remainder of the wash. It is found thatthis agitator enables the machine to handle a substantially larger loadof clothing than others of comparative size but with the conventionalagitator.

It is understood that suitable modifications may be made in thestructure as disclosed, provided such modifications come within thespirit and scope of the appended claim. Having now therefore fullyillustrated and described my invention, what I claim to be new anddesire to protect by Letters Patent is:

A washing machine agitator unit having a tubular member extendingdownwardly into an outwardly flared skirt, the upper end of the agitatorunit including a sleeve like element that is mounted in spacedconcentric position about the upper end of the tubular central portionand having an outer surface that tapers downwardly toward the skirt,radial vanes extending outwardly from the skirt portion of the tubularmember and upwardly along said outer surface of the sleeve like element,the outer edges of said vanes converging inwardly and upwardly towardsaid sleeve like element and thence outwardly in substantial parallelismwith the outer N ber tapered surface of said element. 2,080,657 GEORGEP. CASTNER. 2,159,271 2,164,070 REFERENCES CITED 5 2,282,847 Thefollowing references are of record in the 2298624 file of this patent:2302534 UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 10 Number Rae. 19,514Dehle Apr. 2, 1935 24,545 1,745,595 Altorfer Feb. 4, 1930 398,798

Name Date Donohue May 18, 1937 Janda May 23, 1939 Keil June 27, 1939Barifli May 12, 1942 Lablsky Oct. 13, 1942 Kirby Nov. 17, 1942 FOREIGNPATENTS Country Date Switzerland Aug. 29, 1902 France Apr. 2, 1909

